"Weird Al" Yankovic

News

Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of “Weird Al” Yankovic is available now at Pledge, FYE,musicdirect,Acoustic Sounds, and elusive disc. The CD version is completely sold out and the remaining vinyls are going fast, so if you want one, don’t delay! The set features all 14 of Al’s studio albums, plus a 15th album of odds and ends called Medium Rarities. It comes with a 100-page booklet of rare photos, and it’s enclosed in an amazing replica of Al’s accordion.

Al will make a return visit to the Hollywood Bowl on Nov. 4, performing the Oompa Loompa songs as part of their “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory” spectacular. John Stamos is Willy Wonka, Finn Wolfhard is Charlie, and Giancarlo Esposito is the Candy Man.

After many years of effort on behalf of the fans and the Weird Al Star Fund, Al was chosen on June 22, 2017 to receive his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! The ceremony will happen sometime in 2018 – we’ll definitely keep you posted!

John Oliver decided Al was the only human who could successfully de-escalate the nuclear crisis, so Al wrote “The North Korea Polka (Please Don’t Nuke Us)” and performed it on John’s HBO show (Last Week Tonight) back in August.

Al will appear on upcoming episodes of Lady Dynamite, Little Big Awesome and Drunk History. And listen for his voice-over work on upcoming episodes of Close Enough, New Looney Tunes, R&B, Robot Chicken and Star Wars: Detours!

After 200 shows over 9 months, including two nights at the Hollywood Bowl and a sold-out performance at Radio City Music Hall, the Mandatory World Tour has finally come to an end. We want to sincerely thank everybody who attended one of our obligatory concerts. No more tours for a while, but we’ll see you in a couple years!

In 2006, Al did a parody of James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” called “You’re Pitiful” which was initially meant to appear on the Straight Outta Lynwood album. Permission was revoked, and the track was never officially released. We approached James Blunt recently to see if we could include “You’re Pitiful” as a rarity on next year’s box set (Squeeze Box: The Collected Works of “Weird Al” Yankovic) – but again we were told he has denied permission. So, unfortunately, you can’t BUY the song anywhere, but you can still DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREE hundreds of places on the Internet, including here, here, here, here, here and here!

Al’s bass player, Steve Jay, is releasing three new albums of original music in three different genres: Spontaneous Symmetry (an instrumental album of avant funk featuring exotic wind, string and percussion instruments), When One Remains (a bare-bones album of solo performances. Steve performs 11 of his favorites on one instrument and voice. Instruments include, bouzouki, bass mandolin, electric buzouk & bass gimbri) and El Natural Seven (his eighth full studio album. Deep funk magic composed from the bass up, with nonrepresentational lyrics). Physical CDs of all three albums are available now at www.stephenjay.com. Digital downloads and CDs will be available at iTunes and CD Baby on August 3rd 2016.

Al is one of the featured performers onGeorge Fest: A Night To Celebrate the Music of George Harrison, which just got released on DVD, Blu-Ray, CD and vinyl. This wonderful live tribute was recorded and filmed on September 28th, 2014 at the The Fonda Theater in Los Angeles, with a host of today’s best musicians paying tribute to their favorite George Harrison songs.

MAD Magazine recently picked Al to be their first-ever guest editor in their seven-decade history! The issue (#533) features contributions from Al, as well as Patton Oswalt, Tom Lennon, Chris Hardwick, Seth Green, Kristen Schaal, John Hodgman, Emo Philips, and the Usual Gang of Idiots.

Mandatory Fun debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 200 album chart. It’s the first time that Al has ever had a #1 album – in fact, it’s the first time a comedy album has topped the Billboard chart in over 50 years (and the first time a comedy album has debuted at #1 in HISTORY!)

The SF Sketchfest paid tribute to “Weird Al” Yankovic on February 6 with a special evening of comedy and music, featuring an interview with Al and Chris Hardwick, as well as appearances by Hard ‘n Phirm, Jonah Ray, and Garfunkel and Oates.

“Word Crimes” debuted at #39 on the Billboard Hot 100, earning Al another distinction. Only 3 artists have had singles that charted in the Top 40 in each of the last 4 decades: Michael Jackson, Madonna, and now “Weird Al” Yankovic!

Al performed “The Ballad of Homer and Marge” for three consecutive nights at the Hollywood Bowl as part of a 25th anniversary celebration called “The Simpsons Take the Bowl,” which featured Simpsons cast members as well as Jon Lovitz, Hans Zimmer, Beverly D’Angelo and Conan O’Brien!